It was nearly dark when Peter opened his eyes again. There was a dull pulsing in his head and he groaned softly. His gloved hand reached up to press against his aching head. His thoughts of what happened merely minutes maybe even hours before came flooding over him.
His eyes were wide and he shot up immediately. Her name was whispered incessantly on his lips, his palms pressing into the ground. His head frantically moved back and forth, searching for anything that could give him a sign of her.
And then he saw it. A glimmer of something reflecting in the fading sunlight a few hundred feet away. His whole body went cold; ice replaced the blood in his veins.
"No, no, no, no, god no," his words were a continuous whisper as he scrambled to his feet. He stumbled a bit and had to pause to rest his body against the wall. Peter gained enough balance before desperately searching for anything to attach a web to.
It was useless, really. It was complete chaos around him. There was debris from fallen buildings covering the black pavement of the street. Paramedics were tending to the injured and firefighters pulled people from the mess of what was left of this part of the city.
He ran towards the glimmer of light, ignoring the pain in his head and the soft trickle of something warm going down his arm. He ran so hard that his lungs burned and he felt like he was going to black out. Peter didn't know where his mask was, but at that point he didn't care. He collapsed on top of the rubble right beside where he needed to be.
"Oh god, (Name), please be okay. Please be okay," he muttered under his breath. His hands pulled wood and other pieces of debris and rubble off of what was definitely her body. The soft glimmer of light was coming from the necklace she wore that he had given her for her birthday a few months prior.
There was a soft groan and he breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing it.
"Peter?" she coughed. Her voice was hoarse and weak and Peter knew she wasn't going to be able to hold on, but he ignored it. She was going to be okay. He would make sure of it. He scrambled closer to her, pulling her head into his lap. His hand gripped hers and he linked their fingers together, squeezing them.
"I'm here, baby. I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere," he comforted, his voice soft. His free hand stroked her hair and she weakly smiled at him.
"I love you, Peter Parker. Please don't forget that," she whispered. Peter's vision was flooding with tears and he sadly smiled, a slight sob falling past the threshold of his mouth.
"Hey, hey, don't talk like that. You're going to be okay," he insisted and she shook her head as best as she could.
"No, Peter I need you to say it," she coughed and a tear slipped out of his eye.
"I love you, I love you, I love you. I love you so damn much, darling," he repeated the words over and over to her. She smiled another weak smile, lifting her hand up to his cheek and wiping away the stray tears. He pressed a kiss into her palm and leaned into her touch.
Her own tears fell past her eyes from the pain in her body and the pain in her heart of having to say goodbye for forever to Peter.
"Can you....can you kiss me? One...one last time?" she breathed out and Peter croakily laughed, nodding. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. Both of them poured their hearts and souls into that kiss. Unspoken words and emotions seeped from their lips and into the other. They both knew. They just didn't want to believe it.
Peter pulled back and continued to stroke her hair. Her eyelids fell shut and she struggled to open them again. Her face contorted in pain. "It hurts, Peter."
Peter frowned, more tears falling. He couldn't do anything to help her, so he tried to comfort her the best he could. "I know, darling, I know. It's okay, you'll be okay soon. I love you, okay? So much, don't forget it."
"I love you, too. I'll always be...right here...with you. I love you...so much," she breathed and her eyes shut and Peter's heart shattered. She was gone. His body bent over hers and he cried. He screamed until his voice cracked and his throat went coarse and dry. Sobs racked through his body and he begged to whatever god was out there to bring her back to him. To make it all a big bad dream.
His eyes flew open and his body shot upwards. His breathing was ragged and his heart hurt his ribs from the incessantly intense pounding. Tears stained his cheeks and sweat made his bedsheets stick to his bare arms and chest. Peter had had nightmares before, this was no secret; they just never got to the extent this one had.
He scrambled out of bed, throwing the sheets on his bed off of him. He grabbed a sweater and tugged it over his head, not bothering with shoes before he was out of his window and swinging towards her apartment.
It didn't take him long with how fast he willed himself to move. He tapped on her window until she woke up. She looked at her window and got up, her eyebrows pulled together in confusion. It wasn't every night your boyfriend showed up at your window with disheveled hair and tear stains on his cheeks.
She opened the window and stumbled back as Peter threw himself against her. She didn't ask questions as she somehow managed to close her window while hugging him back. Warm tears pooled on the shoulder of the sweater of his she was wearing. She rubbed his back and soothingly tried to shush his crying.
She knew of his nightmares and she assumed this was why he showed up tonight. He never came to her after having a nightmare though and she realized the severity this one had had on his emotions. She didn't need him telling her to figure out that something terrible happened to her in it. Her heart broke as she squeezed her eyes shut, kissing his head.
"Shh, it's okay. I'm right here, I'm okay. You're okay."
At school the next morning, she was greeted by his arm wrapping around her shoulders and pulling her into his side. She giggled, and moved to grab the rest of her books from her locker. He pressed constant kisses to her cheek as she did so.
"Peter," she laughed, turning her head to finally press her mouth to his. She could feel him smiling against her and she pulled back to shut her locker. "What's going on with you?"
"What? I just missed you, s'all," he pressed more kisses to her cheek and she giggled and smiled some more.
"You saw me last night," she whispered and Peter's smile he wore faded slightly at the mentions of it. She frowned. "Sorry, sorry."
Her hand came up to the one resting on her shoulder and she squeezed it, receiving one in return.
"I love you long time," he whispered into her ear, kissing it in the process.
"I love you long time too, you clingy boy," she laughed and Peter only smiled at her name for him. His nose nuzzled against her cheek as they kept walking.
He walked her to her first class, pulling her to the side of the door to say a quick 'goodbye'. She gave him a quick kiss goodbye and went to walk into her class. She was pulled back from the entryway by a tug on her arm.
"One more," Peter insisted and she playfully rolled her eyes before kissing him once more. She pulled back and Peter pecked her lips nearly five times more before he reluctantly let her go into class.
"I love you, darling," he called and she smiled at him.
"I love you too, Pete." She hurriedly took her seat next to Michelle, a soft blush on her cheeks and a smile on her face. Michelle softly shook her head.
"He's abnormally clingy today," she commented and (Name) shrugged, recalling the events from the night before.
"I don't mind, as long as he's happy."
